Our old friend Ryan. Not that he's old...just haven't seen him since February. We enjoyed having him for the evening. He took a break from Snorkeling to come see us. (Must've been tough!) He brought his friend Joe with him, we fed them Swedish Meatballs and they even got some cookie dough that I had stashed in the freezer. (sorry Nicki!) Then we played Ticket to Ride. That is such a fun game.

Anybody else want to come visit us? We promise to act just as goofy with you too!

The kiddos were very excited to see him too, but wondered why Sophie, Caleb, and Elsie couldn't come over too.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I got a super cool package in the mail yesterday. Thought I'd share it with you. In case you can't read it, this was written on the back...

"Please do not smash, kick, run over with steamroller, soak in green jello...or any other color, cook over open flame, fry in peanut oil, use for live fishing bait, feed the animals, or wack someone crazy over the head. Fragile--is that french?? [Fra-jee-lay] :)"

So technically, if the post office wanted to, lets say, run it over with a tow truck, soak it in tobasco sauce, fry it in vegetable oil, or feed insects to, or wack a non-crazy person over the head, then they could. Technically.

I love it. Totally cracked me up. I hope the post office workers got a kick out of it too.

Here is what was inside. A little love from Tennessee's Cracker Barrel. A scrappy card that Miss Anti-Scrap made herself (your secret is safe), some cany sticks, a cool bracelt, a neat map of the U.S., the game of spoons (fun), some fake snow to make with the kiddos, and a rockin' Napoleon Dynamite card (Ah. My friends really do know me well!).

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The first, is this weekend I will get to read Breaking Dawn, the final book in the vampire series by Stephanie Meyer. I told Heath not to anticipate me being any help on Saturday! I've got a friend who is going with me at midnight to pick up the book. So fun!

The second, is next week. I will be flying to Utah for my Sibling Reunion. There are ten kids in my family, as well as my two parents. We are all meeting in Utah for the weekend. No spouses. No kids. (surprisingly, nobody has a baby they are nursing, and nobody, to my knowledge, is pregnant. That is very surprising.) So it's just the original kids with the original parents. Very fun. I can not wait!

The third, is that in a few weeks, I will be celebrating my One Year Blog Anniversary. I've got some things planned to make for a grand party! Including some giveaways. Super stoked about that. I have really really enjoyed having a blog this past year. I think I motivated lots of people to start some blogs of their own, as well, so that has been so fun. Stay tuned for my blogger party towards the middle of August.

Also, school starts soon after that. I admit. I'm a mom who likes when school starts. Kolby will be starting Kindergarten, so I'll just have little Georgie during the day. I can only imagine the fun the little Miss and I will have together.

Monday, July 28, 2008

I'm not totally sure how it happened, but somehow, during my adolescent years, I became known as simply "Assistant".

You see, my older sister (who is two years, one month, and 7 days older than me) and I were thrown together a lot as children. We were always paired up with the responsibilities around the house. We also shared a room together, which didn't work out very well. Let's just say that tape was adhered to the middle of our floor to separate our sides. She always got the side of the room with the closet, though. I would have to ask permission to cross the room to get some clothes. Ah. Good times.

Anyway, back to the story. We were often assigned cleaning jobs together, such as washing the dishes. I always had to wash and she rinsed. I got the bummer end of the deal. But seeing as how she was two years, one month, and 7 days older than me, she was the boss. (or so she explained to me)

Often times, we were asked to prepare food for lunch, or a snack after dinner. I've always enjoyed cooking, so this should have been delightful. Such is not the case when you are "just the assistant'. Kim was older and wiser, as she often told me, and when we were working in the kitchen together, I was subject to her authority. I was just the assistant. My job was to do everything she, the Cook, asked me to do. We'd be making cookies. This is what I'd hear.

"Assistant! Get me three eggs!"

"Assistant! Wipe up this mess!"

"Assistant! Grease the cookie sheets!"

"Assistant! Measure the shortening!"

Now I can honestly tell you, my hatred for scooping out shortening, measuring it, and then scooping it out again while trying your hardest to get it all out so it stays true to measurement, stems from these moments in the kitchen making cookies with my sister. (I'm a smarty pants now and buy the sticks of shortening. No measuring!)

Have you noticed that I got stuck with all the crappy jobs? I mentioned that to my sister one time. "It is the job of the assistant to do whatever Cook asks her to do, and not to complain! Just for that, Assistant, you get to wash all the dishes by yourself!"

Sometimes we would get to make scones for lunch. We called them Indian Fry Bread, and served with butter and honey, they make a very delicious snack. Again, I would have to scoop out the shortening, knead the dough, and then roll out individual circles to be then, fried by the Cook. Of course, she was the recipient of all the praise too. She was titled "Cook" after all." I was "just the Assistant!", she would tell me. I still don't know what exactly she did when we were cooking together. It seems like I did everything, and she got the credit.

With all this, however, we became best friends. I've learned my place in this world. I am the Assistant. I make a very good Assistant. I don't grumble about all the crappy jobs anymore. I relish the times we are together and I easily revert back to my position of being the assistant. Kimmie, I'll measure shortening any day for you!"

I have to tell you one more quick story about Kim. When she started driving, and I was still two years, one month, and seven days shy of getting my drivers license, I was always the passenger. One day, I reached my hand up to switch the radio station, only to find it slapped away by her just as fast. "I am the driver! It is the privilege of the driver to pick the radio station! When you, Assistant, are the driver, then you will get to decide what to listen to."

Sounds fair.

Flash forward two years, one month, and seven days later.

I am sitting in the driver's seat and Kim is the passenger (although I would never dare to call her "Assistant". I reach over to flip the radio station. She slaps my hand away just as fast. I am about to tell her that I am now the driver and it is finally my privilege to pick the station when she says "You are too busy driving! You shouldn't be occupied with the radio! Do you want to cause an accident? The passenger isn't busy watching the road. The passenger gets to pick the radio station!"

So it ends. I will never best the boss. Oh, I think I hear her now... "Assistant! Stop jabbering away and end this post so I can make a comment..."

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Alrighty. So if you click on the video, you will hear the proper pronunciation of my name. Thanks to everyone who gave their guesses. Most of you were right. I was surprised. My name is pronounced Shay-nuh.

During college, it must have been during a big Shania Twain following, and I got called Shania all the time. That really buged me. Hate it when people pronounce it Shania. So I started spelling it with a Y after the A, which helped out considerably.

Those of you who guessed, I will email you some new recipes. That way, you can add them to your collection, however you have your recipes organized. You'll have to tell me how you like them after you try them. Go ahead and send me an email at kamyrensmiles@hotmail.com

Thanks for playing!

(stay tuned for a post about the lifelong job of being my big sister's Assistant)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I find it very interesting that none of you have ever gone to see a movie by yourself. Half my high school and all of my college years were spent working in a movie theater, so I was use to sneaking up after it started, finding a corner seat, and watching a movie in bliss. It never disturbed me.

I'm not a loner by any means. I thrive in companionship. But I did not see a movie by myself because I had no other choice. I wanted to go out by myself. With no one to account for. Nobody to impress. No opinions about what to do with my night out. Just me. I loved it. The whole point of me getting out was that I needed to be alone for a bit. It was a perfect solution for me.

The movie was good. It didn't totally rock my world, but I really enjoyed it. I love musicals. I wish my life was a musical. It was very entertaining and the music was fun. Go see it if you haven't.

Today, Heath wanted to take the kiddos to Journey to the Center of the Earth. Keaton said "Momma, can I sit between you and Daddy so if I get scared, you are there to protect me?" So with Heath's arm stretched across Keaton, and Georgie sitting on my lap, we held hands through the movie. It was a good movie, and I can totally see it as a future ride at Disneyland. At one point, Georgie had her hands covering her eyes. Cutie!

So if any of you ever need some time alone, consider going to a movie. Nobody cares that you are by yourself. Heck. There is nobody to steal your popcorn and drink! Consider that a bonus. Go catch a flick by yourself.

Friday, July 25, 2008

1. It's hard to get out the door without kids begging to join you.2. Other drivers on the road should really be paying attention to where their vehicle is in relation to my vehicle.3. The air conditioning in my husbands car doesn't kick in until...well, I don't know. It never kicked in.4. There are a lot of cute things at Kohls, and they have a rockin' good clearance section.5. It's kind of eerie to be the only one in a huge 25-partition dressing room.6. It is so sad to show up to a movie, only to have it be sold out.7. Making the decision to go shopping during the 3 hour break until the next showing instead of going home was very easy.8. I missed shopping at Ross.9. Ross still loves me.10. The ladies guarding the dressing room are very very uptight about counting out your items, and then look irritated when it comes out to the same number as what you told them.11. There are some ugly shoes at Ross.12. Customers accounted for some of those ugly shoes. No wonder they were in the shoe section.13. Running into a friend in Target and talking for half an hour in front of the dollar spot was fun.14. Sometimes you just can't convince somebody to join you for a movie.15. I should have gone to the bathroom before I got my popcorn. Darn it.16. It's annoying to squeeze your bladder through an entire show.17. The stupid theater didn't have root beer. Sprite just didn't have the same effect.18. Popcorn was old.19. Guess that's what I get for watching the last showing of the evening.20. Nobody looked at me strange because I was by myself.21. Pierce Brosnan really can't sing.22. But I appreciate the effort.23. The husband likes to wait up for me, even though it was after midnight when I got home.24. Only showing the husband half of what I bought worked out great.25. Going out by yourself is great rejuvenation.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

So I was just siting on my hiney folding the laundry that I did yesterday. [Coincidentally, if anyone wants to know how to turn your house into a sauna/steam bath, I'd be happy to share my secrets.] As I was separating the dryer sheets from the death grip they had against my kitchen towels (aren't they suppose to be cling-free?) I was contemplating my name, for some reason.

I really like my name and I'm happy my parents named me Shaina. It's a unique name, and thus far in my life, I've never personally come across anyone with my same name. I know people out there exist that are named the same, or at least the name is pronounced the same way, but they've never run in my social groups. I'm glad for that. I like the uniqueness my name provides.

However, as my sister Shavonne has recently pointed out on her blog, sometimes it's frustrating to have EVERYONE in the world say your name wrong. Or to have friends spell your name wrong. Hey. It happens. I've done it too. But it's frustrating nonetheless.

So this got me thinking. I have blog friends that I've never met. Therefore, they have only seen my name in print. Never pronounced. I'm interested in how you pronounce my name. Go ahead. Spell it phonetically. I'm really interested. In college, my name was rarely pronounced correctly without prompting. I even resorted to spelling it differently in college, just so it would be pronounced the right way.

But what frustrates me the most is when I am spelling my name to someone, and they STILL put certain letters in the wrong place. Why did you ask me if you are just going to spell it how you want to?

So this post is for those of you that I've never met face to face. Please tell me how YOU pronounce my name. I'm dying of curiosity. I think I'll even put together a little something to reward you for your post. I'll send you 6 new recipes to add to your recipe books. Recipes that aren't on my blog. Yummy recipes. Sound good? Can't wait to hear from you!

I need some time to myself, where kids aren't yelling at me (and I'm not yelling at them) and where I don't have to chase after anyone, watch out for anyone, or stress out over anything. Actually, the kids don't yell at me, really. It's mostly them ignoring everything I say, which really gets me going.

Heath is back, so he very willingly is letting me have some time to rejuvinate. I need it too. I feel like I've been very very impatient lately.

So I'm going to see Momma Mia all by myself. I think I'll even buy a big bag of popcorn and eat it all. I might even splurge on some root beer too. (gasp!) I am really looking forward to it.

Our Air Conditioning was finally fixed this morning. It had a compressor that needed to be replaced. We are cool and breezy again. Loving that. It was one very long hot night last night with no air conditioning.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

This morning I woke up to hot stickiness. The air conditioner was on, but it was not working. Total bummer. It stopped working yesterday, or maybe it's not been working that great for a week or so. Anyway, I called our property management to inform them of our cooling crisis at 8am. It's after 2pm, and I'm still trying to get someone to call me back! I keep calling and calling and they keep giving me excuse after excuse. "Oh, she's with someone. She'll call back....She's out to lunch...." I feel like the wicked witch of the west. "I'm melting!"

It's very hot in our house, but what makes it worse is the humidity. It's like a swamp cooler gone bad in here. To make things worse, I HAD to do laundry today. Ugh. I also cleaned the house like crazy and all the movement is making it a sauna in here.

Heath is suppose to get home tonight. "Welcome to our hot spot, baby!"

Monday, July 21, 2008

Cleaning this room. Wish me luck. Actually, I find it fun to organize this room. There are always treasures to be found. I then have a hard time finishing the cleaning job, instead of messing it up with creativity again. Oh well. It's the life cycle.

Tonight, I'm also watching THE MOLE. I get so excited for Monday nights. Those of you who are keeping up, who are do you think is the mole? I've totally got one pinned down. Have since the first episode. Hmmmm...

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Keaton has had his top middle tooth loose for a while now. He was very protective of it. Finally, this morning, he told me it was loose enough to come out. So after a few minutes, he was one tooth shy and slightly whistling his 'S' words. Very cute. Here is a before and after.

With that, I have found them rather charming in how they say things. Here are some funny things I heard my boys saying these past couple of days.

Keaton:

"I could eat a thousand giants!"

"I wish I could live in a spaghetti tree. But they only bloom in the fall."

(overheard him telling his teacher at church today) "My mom is a Master Scrapbooker!"

(said after running around and he felt his pulse) "Wow. My neck is jumping!"

Kolby:

-"Let's do the Limbo!"

- "It's good you put the fruit snacks in a tricky place so I can't get into them!"

-(said while I was making pb&j sandwhiches for lunch. I was using Peter Pan Peanut butter.) "Mom, is that all Peter Pan eats?"

-"Mom, my favorite song is 'It's too late to apologize'." (he and keaton sing this with daddy)

Friday, July 18, 2008

Heath has been gone this week, so since my evenings are empty without him, I scrapbook.

Made this one with mostly Glitz products. Love the little owl. I had to hold back not to add all the owls in the package; they are so cute.

Not too sure if I like this one, but oh well.

This one was fun, and I used American Crafts products (again!) and the sought after threading water punch (finally found one!). I just wish I had made the picture on the layout bigger. (I was trying to squeeze another picture on the same page to print and thus, this one wasn't left with enough room on the paper!) If you click on the layout, it will come up very large. So large that you can see that I didn't cut the circles out very well!

I really wish this one had turned out better, and it didn't scan very crisp, so it makes it look even more blah. But it fit perfectly for KJ Starre's layout challenge of the week.

...and please bless feedjit, so it will know how much I love it and miss it and yearn for the sweet list of blogger places and referrals that I long to see. Please help feedjit to come back safely to this blogger home.-amen.

I have to admit...strawberry ice cream doesn't really float my boat, but I like what the description says about me. It's pretty accurate.

Your personality is as friendly and appealing as strawberry ice cream (especially the kind with chunky bits of real fruit). You've got a slightly sarcastic sense of humor, and you rarely stress out or take things too seriously. You are cute and sweet, but with a mischievous side. You are a bit of a troublemaker, but only because you're determined to avoid a plain vanilla life.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Jenni posted this on her blog, so I thought I'd be a copy cat and post it on mine too.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I remember when this movie came out. I was 14 years old, and my family was traveling through Utah. I sat between my older sister Kim and my next younger sister Shavonne in the movie theater. Kim and I were too "cool" to have a little sister hover over us, so we made her sit two chairs down from us. Yes. We were mean. But she got her revenge.

Halfway through the movie, during an intense scene of spiderly prowless, when eyes were glued to the screen, knees were squeezed together and feet were lifted off the floor, Shavonne reached her hand across the back of the seats and flitted her spider-like fingers across my shoulders.

I screamed so loud.

Shavonne laughed so hard.

I suddenly felt like peeing my pants. Maybe I did.

No. I didn't.

Well, maybe just a little bit.

So I remember getting up to go to the bathroom, right after the terrifying "shower and toilet" scene from the movie, and it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do: sticking my bum on that toilet seat. I was sure a spider was going to bite me somewhere that would be incredibly embarrassing to have investigated the ambulance driver as hoards of popcorn-bloated audience members casually watched while refilling their supply of Junior Mints.

On to the reason why I started this post. Around here, as I'm driving around, I am constantly reminded of Arachnophobia because of this:

These huge spiderwebs are everywhere on the trees around here. They are grouped together, covering tree branches and hanging over the side of the road. It's no wonder nobody walks around here. I'd be terrified that whatever inhabits these webs would drop down on unsuspecting little 'ole me and feast on me for 4 and a half days. (why the half? I don't know.)

When I took this picture, I was standing a good distance away, and I put my super duper Cannon Rebel camera up to my eye to look through it and I about jumped out of my skin! My lens was all zoomed in and I totally freaked out being so close to the web of death! So I risked my life to get these pictures for you. Hope you appreciate them.

By the way, if any of you haven't ever seen this movie, PLEASE tell me! I can't imagine anybody missing out on this gem.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Today I am preparing for another round of freezer meals. This time, I've got two friends here that are interested in how it's done, so they are coming over Wednesday to help me make mine. In turn, I'll bestow all my knowledge to them and give them a copy of the recipes I'll be using. I'm doing some old favorites, but I've also got some new recipes I'll be trying out. So look for some new recipes to be added to the list.

I'll also be cleaning the house today. It's never done. Drives me absolutely crazy.

Tonight, I'm going to Walmart. It's been marked on my calendar since last week because of the sales flyer I got in the mail. It's my favorite time of the year. The time when I can restock my school supplies! Check your local sales. Right now I can get spiral notebooks for 5 cents and a box of crayola crayons for 22 cents!! I hope they are continually restocking those shelves. I plan on getting as much as I can. Having a big tote full of art supplies just makes me happy.

Oh, and here is the layout I was working on when Keaton 'suggested' in his brilliant kid way that I was slacking on my parental duties.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Today, I was cutting some circles out of the patterened paper I was using for a scrapbook page, when Keaton came peeking over my shoulder to see what I was up to. I was actually making a layout using a picture of him, so I showed it to him. He was quiet, watching me for a bit, and then he said "Momma, you should have a circle puncher of different sizes so you can cut cut cut so super fast. "

I told him he was right, and that would be helpful, but that I just had to use scissors instead.

He said "Man, I would sure do a good job scrapbooking because I have great ideas, like how to cut good circles."

I agreed.

Then came the kicker. "Mom, maybe if I did your scrapbooking, then you would have more time to spend with your family..."

Friday, July 11, 2008

Here is another project I did for The Pink House. It's a castle chipboard book by EK Success. I covered it in sandpaper before I added all the pictures and I cut up some blue swirl paper by Ki Memories, then I grunged up the edges, added some ribbon and a few word phrases. I think it's pretty cute.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

We are having mashed potatoes, ham, rolls, and salad. Nothing fancy. Last night we made homemade pizza (hawaiian). Tomorrow I'm making black bean taquitos. Sometimes we get in a rut of having the same thing over and over again. I like to get variety. So what're ya'll havin'?

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Do you ever get a hankering for something sweet, but nothing seems to satisfy the desire? Last night, we had a great dinner. I made Crispy Parmesan Chicken, which is a favorite of ours, and I was completely satisfied afterward. I wasn't hungry. All was good.

About an hour or so later, I was minding my own business, then it happened. It was all I could think about. I went into the kitchen and started looking through cupboards. What could I have? What did I want? I didn't know, but I knew that just had to have something. I had a really great brownie mix, but I didn't have vanilla ice cream. Brownies just aren't the same if they aren't gooey and fudgey, fresh from the oven, and topped with creamy vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. I must not be limited! Only having half the ingredients for this perfect dessert wasn't good enough.

So I moved on...

What else could I have? I saw apples. Hmmm. I could make the most amazing Apple Crisp in the world, but I didn't have all of those ingredients either. And even if I did, I still didn't have any vanilla ice cream to scoop over it.

Dilemma.

Apparently what I needed, was at the store, since I didn't have proper ingredients to fulfill my cravings.....and I wanted it NOW! I looked down. I was cozy and comfy in my jammie bottoms and I did not want to change. Hmmm. I looked around. Problem solved!! I needed and errand runner....and he was sitting on the couch.

The husband.

Now, how to manipulate him so that he WANTS to go, and does it soon, because at this point, I'm almost going crazy with anticipation of something sweet; something I had yet to decide on, but I knew it would be super yummy.

I bounced over to him and plopped myself down on his lap. "OOOh. Looks like you want something!" Yes, but probably not what he was thinking....

I told him my dilemma and how this desire for something sweet was overtaking me, and he simply must go to the store and get it for me.

He had his own dilemma, like wanting to watch the Tour De France on TV, but like a good trained husband, he said "What do you want me to get?" I told him I couldn't decide, and it was up to him to pick out something fabulous and bring it home to me. So after telling him directions to the store, and agreeing to wait for a commercial break, I plopped down on my bed to read a bit, so as to pass the time away.

Time passed away.

Probably 10 minutes. The husband came in to get ready to go to the store. I looked up at him.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Ok, so now I have a moment to tell you about our weekend! Since coming to South Carolina, we've realized how close other states are, distance-wise, to us, and we've been longing to explore. So upon hearing about Margarite's splendid tales of her trip to St. Augustine, and being told by Heath's family about the wonders of St. Augustine and how it's the oldest city in America, we figured we just HAD to go. So we did.

It is only a four hours away from us, so we took of Friday morning-ish and drove straight to the St. Augustine Beach. The kiddos had their swimsuits on under their clothes, their sunglasses on their faces, and their beach gear in their hands. Time couldn't go by quickly enough!

So we got there, set up our little umbrellas and our two folding chairs, took this picture, and then the kids were off! They had a blast playing on the beach. The boys and Kamy love playing on the shoreline and in the waves, but Georgie prefers to just hang out under the umbrella, playing with the sand.

Heath spent most of the time in the water, and I joined him a little bit too, but because Georgie preferred the sand, I was limited to staying by her side, but this is my favorite picture of the day. Just Heath and I relaxing, and none of our "fat parts" showing in the picture!!

After a nice afternoon at the beach, we loaded everyone up, went to the hotel, and washed all that sand off. We ordered some dinner and spent a relaxing evening watching the fireworks from New York on TV. We would have liked to see real fireworks, but after bathing everyone and getting dinner, it was too late to find a spot, not to mention finding parking and then walking over there, what with half the town there already. Oh well.

The next day, after a pitiful breakfast at the hotel (which had problems in itself, such as the toilet not flushing and a dirty room [we switched rooms] and calking from the stairway that got all over my kids' shoes and thus, ended up all over the carpet) we thankfully checked out and then spent an hour or so at the outlets that were right across the street. Soon, the kiddos were begging for the beach again but on the way, we stopped off at the Fortress, which is still mighty and strong. It was built by the Spanish, I think, and served as a great protector to the city for many a years. (sorry Margarite if I'm not doing justice to the history)

Ok, feeling guilty, so I copied this from a site about St. Augustine: The massive stone Castillo de San Marcos, the impressive fortress built by the Spanish in 1672. Inside, you can explore guard rooms, powder magazines, the chapel, shot furnaces, and underground storage chambers. You can also climb the steep stairs to walk along the parapet walls where several original cannons are still mounted and get a Spanish-eye view of the channel and the town.

Heath was interested in the jailhouse. Surprisingly, it was locked!

Up on the roof, the kids liked looking out over the inlet. I know I've mentioned this before, but look! They are standing in birth order. I tell ya. All the time. My kids are wierd.

Georgie didn't like being the cannon ball!

When we were getting ready to go, here come the Spanish, marching up the stairs and ready to demonstrate the firing of the cannons. So we stayed and watched. Keaton freaked out with anticipation of the loud cannons, so Heath had to take him away so as to not disturb everyone else. Here is a shot of the cannons going off. Notice the Spanish. They are plugging their ears. Smart guys!

Let me tell you, I don't think I've ever been so hot. I felt like I was melting. I was so glad when we were done exploring the rooftop. My goodness!! So hot.

So after we ate lunch, we went to Vilano Beach and spent the rest of the day there before we took off to drive back home.

The beach was covered in these teeny tiny broken shells. It really STUCK to your skin! It was so hard to wash off. In fact, I'm sure the kids still have some stuck in the crevises.....

Didn't seem to phase Georgie, though. She kept rolling around in it.

Finally, it was about 4 pm and time to start for home. We weren't even in the car 5 minutes (not yet at the freeway) when I turned around and saw the kids zonked out.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

I am going to do a big post about our weekend, but I won't have a few minutes until tomorrrow afternoon.Until then, I'll let you know Heath and I no longer teach the 2 year olds in church. We were released today, and I was given the new job of being the secretary for primary (all the kiddos ages 2-12). Heath is devestated to leave the nursery. He thought it was the best.Catch ya'll soon....

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Georgie really likes to be crafty with me. Well, she likes it whether she's with me or not, and I would venture a guess that she likes it more WITHOUT me because I don't inhibit her creative expressions.

Georgie also really likes vowels. She goes around singing every day "A-EE-AHH-OH-OOO" I am thinking she is trying to say "E-I-E-I-O" from Old McDonald had a farm. Also, when she is looking through her books, she likes to point to specific letters and say "A" or "I" for almost every one of them.

Yesterday, when my back was turned, she got into some of my American Crafts Thickers, which are pretty much thick letter stickers, and started pasting them to her body. Since she was only in her diaper, she had plenty of canvas to work with. I found it interesting the letters she chose. She stayed away from those pesky consonants and went right for the vowels, which were scattered through the page, incidentally. She especially favored the Y's. (Not a vowel, you say? I beg to differ. All through school, I learned that vowels were A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. ) Apparently, she likes to root for the underdog. Either that, or she is brilliant beyond her years.

Why am I organizing a Blanket Drive?

CHD

Feel free to contact me, if you have any questions about congenital heart defects. I'm happy to be of help any way I can.

Wanna contact me?kamyrensmiles@hotmail.com

All photographs, stories, drawings, and whatever else I post on this blog belong to me and may not be used without my permission.

Who am I?

Wife, momma, sister, friend...blah blah blah. I live in a gorgeous mansion with my rockin' husband and my five incredibly well behaved and beautiful children who fill my life with indescribable joy. I love to rearrange my house about as often as I like to eat chocolate and peanut butter. You'll often find me behind the lens of a camera, in my kitchen cooking, in the mountains hiking, watching new movies, sewing, blogging(!), trying to be a runner, eating french fries, or gathering people to play games. We are business owners, church-goers, vacationers, and foodies. Welcome to our family.